Ever get ticked off at the airport because of a delayed or canceled flight and have to crash there (no pun intended)? There is hope for travelers with the Pod Hotel. $89.00 buys you 7 x 12 feet of sleep space with climate control, an iPod docking station, wireless internet, and LCD TV with no remote. The down side is that you have to share bathrooms, you cannot smoke in them, and there is not much moving around space. Originating in Japan as far back as 1979, they are now available in London and Amsterdam, having been built early this year, as well as one in New York City that was built last year. There are now plans for expansion which sounds to us like a great idea for a budding entrepreneur.

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A few days ago, Apple released the new AirPort Express with 802.11n Wi-Fi built-in. The release signified the completion of Apple’s wireless router line moving to the 802.11n Draft 2.0 standard, and they kept the price at an affordable $99 USD. We went down to the local Apple Store to pick one of these up to use alongside our AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, which means we have a beefy N network rocking here at Gear Live HQ. Using the three in tandem is fantastic, especially for wireless Time Machine support.

We just put up an AirPort Express 802.11n unboxing gallery. We’ve got a good 12 images up there for your perusal giving you a look at how compact the AirPort Express wireless router is, as long as the ports and the power connector, among other things. Go give it a look.

We’ve been expecting an updated Airport Express from Apple for a few days now, after an image was leaked out of Switzerland. As it turns out, the new Airport Express with 802.11n support is now on sale in the US Apple Store. Yeah, on a Monday no less. In case you don’t know, the Airport Express is a small wireless router that supports up to 10 clients at a time, and also features printer sharing and AirTunes. That means you can stream your iTunes content to the device, and have it play through a connected speaker system. With 802.11n support, this is now the perfect travel companion, as long as you don’t mind not have a directly wired Ethernet connection to your computer.Or, if you already have an 802.11n network set up, you can now pick up a refurbished Airport Express model and use it to set up a secondary G network. The Airport Express will cost you $99, while refurbs are $79.

Apple has just released Airport Utility 5.3.1 as part of Airport Base Station Update 2008-001. If you own an Airport Extreme, or are an early adopter of Time Capsule, you can gonna wanna launch Software Update to grab this one. According to Apple, the update provides “general fixes and compatibility updates” for Airport Utility, Airport Disk Utility, and Airport Base Station Agent.

If you plan on traveling to Denver International Airport, expect free, but censored WiFi service. Spokesperson Chuck Cannon explained that officials considered some sites to be “potentially racy.” These include the Vanity Fair site and boingboing. He says they would rather have a few upset parents than their kids’ access to Websites that may contain what they consider borderline porn. The service, which was instigated in November, seems to be utilizing the same tech that is used in Sudan and Kuwait to keep their countrymen/women in line. Those that giveth sometimes also taketh away.

If our Time Capsule unboxing gallery wasn’t enough for you, we’ve got a bit more for you in term of images of Apple‘s new NAS wireless router. We know that images can be deceiving, so we thought we’d put the current Airport Express router up against the Time Capsule and snap some photos so that you can see the size difference. The Time Capsule is definitely larger - understandable, since it has to pack in a 500 GB or 1 TB hard drive. Aside from size, the only other really obvious difference between the two is that the Airport Extreme has a white Apple logo, while Time Capsule’s is silver. Check out the rest of the shots in our Time Capsule vs. Airport Extreme size comparison gallery.

Over the past day, we’ve been putting Apple‘s Time Capsule through its paces, and so far, we like what we see. We will be updating you with some impressions in a future post, but for now, we figured we’d hit you with another one of our unboxing galleries. We have a good 18 shots of Apple’s backup NAS wireless router that works hand-in-hand with Time Machine in all of its glory over in our Time Capsule unboxing gallery. Check it out.

Also, if you are interested, here is a Time Capsule vs. Airport Extreme size comparison gallery.

RoboPorter has taken up residence in Japan’s Kita Kyushu Airport. Standing 4 feet tall, travelers walk over to him and tell him where they want to go. They can also use a touchscreen with a map for identification. RP can handle luggage up to 110 lbs. and can inform patrons with airport information without asking for a tip. We are thinking that this would be a terrific application for grocery stores. Not only could they carry our groceries, perhaps they can be programmed to shop as well.

Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to lug that heavy luggage around when you fly? Russia has come up with a robotic suitcase that follows its owner when he/she puts a sensor in its pocket. Light detectors, infrared sensors, ultrasound and a gyroscope help the bot, whom they named Tony, to move around objects and keep from falling off stairways and ledges. Set to come out in 2009, the robot will be available for 49000 RUB (~$1960.00.) With all the fuss at airports these days when you try to take your shampoo along, what chance would Tony have of getting past an inspection? Our guess would be slim to none.

Apple has quietly upgraded their WiFi router line, releasing the AirPort Extreme. The main feature of the new model is that it features 802.11n wireless, which provides twice the range and five times the speed than 802.11g. The unit is 6.5-inches square, and 1.2-inches tall - but seems to leave a bit to be desired. For instance, there are only three ports for connecting other devices to the AirPort extreme, while most other routers have four. Also, the ports do not support Gigabit ethernet, which is another downer for a product using the term “extreme” in its name. On the plus side though, it does have a USB port for connecting a USB printer or external hard drive. The best part though? It also comes with an 802.11n Enabler, which unlocks the 802.11n capabilities of the newest iMac and MacBook Pro models, which shipped with WiFi cards capable of 802.11n speeds. We suspect you simply run the Enabler, and your Core 2 Duo iMacs and MacBook Pros will fly. The Airport Extreme Base Station ships in February for $179.99 USD.